Are You My Daddy?
by WannabeMarySue
Summary: Rescuing a young girl from a tormenting gang of teenage boys lands the Straw Hat pirates with a new daughter, and attempting to raise a 7 year old girl on the confines of the Thousand Sunny is a feat even these pirates might have trouble with. "Ya know," Luffy said to no one in particular, "I said from the very beginning that I wanted ten people on my crew." *Slowly being revamped
1. Chapter 1

_**2013 Edit: It's urgent that you read the A/N**_

**Chapter Title: Having a kid is never really planned, now is it?**

**Word Count: 3,032 (minus A/N)**

**A/N: Once upon a time, this was a plotless fluff fic. Now it's not. Revamping this story with a definitive plot and a healthy mix of fluff and serious is my way of apologizing for the lack of updates. Let me explain: the way the previous fic was written made it extremely hard to find actually ideas to write about. While the general family focus of the story will remain the same, I will be adding a lot more depth and background to the story and Flie. Because of this, I deeply suggest that you re-read every chapter as I "revamp" them. Expect regular updates on the normal chapters and then new chapters to come. Also expect a severe change in writing quality because the time I have spent away as been to improve my writing. I hope you all enjoy and please review and tell me what you think of this revamped first chapter. For those who don't like how it is, I can repost the old version as a separate story on , just tell me. I will even go and clean it up before reposting it as an extra apology. Now just go read it. Hopefully you enjoy.**

* * *

The gang of teenage boys had gathered around her on all sides, trapping her in a palpable bubble of fear. She stared up at them, unshed tears warping her vision. She should have been used to this by now. She should have been stronger. But she wasn't. She should have been able to deal by now. But, she couldn't. She never would be able to. The gang sneered down at her in unison, taking their time with the torment. No need to rush it; not when no one would interrupt. No one truly cared that much to try and stop them. Why should they?

She was disgusting. A freak. At least, that's what everyone always said. That's all she'd ever heard.

"Hey! Freak, I thought we told you to not come back here!" The leader of the gang sneered, absentmindedly tossing a jagged rock into the air before catching it again. Up and down the rock went, up and down. Her eyes followed the movement, somehow getting a small amount of reassurance from the repetition. Maybe if she didn't stop watching it, he wouldn't throw it at her.

"Yeah! Get lost freak! No one wants to be around creepy little girls with ugly hair!" Another boy taunted, smiling as the jeers of his companions bolstered his confidence. He took a step towards her and grabbed her by her short, matted hair. He yanked her head back and smirked down at her when she involuntarily let a whimper of pain escape her lips.

"No wonder your parents leftyou!" He said quietly, then louder for the others to hear, "No one wants a pathetic freak as a daughter."

He pulled harder on her hair, forcing her head back to a sharper angle. Her neck cracked audibly, and when her face spasmed with pain, the boy only grinned wickedly in sick glee. She squeezed her eyes shut, small tears pinching out the corners of her eyes. In a hoarse voice, used little for fear of rebuke, she stuttered, "S-stop it! P-pl-please! I-I'll leave! D-d-d-don't throw anymore rocks! P-please?!"

"I still don't think she's learned her lesson." The leader said from where he stood watching. "What do you think boys?" The question was rhetorical. Before the final word even left his lips, he was replacing the rock still held in his hand with a pocket knife. He flipped it open slowly, taking sick pleasure in the wash of fresh fear that ran over her face like warm, wet blood.

The other teens grew quiet in anticipation, closing in tighter around her and the boy that held her captive. The leader walked towards her slowly, the knife glinting in the pale moonlight that fell down through the clouds floating innocently above. She blinked slowly, hoping, begging, praying that it was all just a nightmare. But then, cool metal was pressed against her jaw. Not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to hurt.

This time she didn't whimper, a mix of white hot fear and boiling adrenaline gave her the courage to deny him that pleasure. He frowned at her disobedience and pressed harder, drawing blood. Still, she didn't let a single sound escape her tightly pressed lips.

Her entire being was focused solely on the knife carving lines of hurt and shame into her unwilling skin. So, when the surprised, garbled shout of one of the gang members behind her torturer ended with a wet, splattering cough, she jumped, inadvertently driving the knife deeper into her skin. This time she cried out, a sharp, short scream of pure agony coloring the night red and black.

The boy holding her captive relinquished his wrenching hold on her hair, too busy trying to hold his own torso together, his steadily weakening hands attempting to keep organs from slipping out of a long gash cut in his stomach.

Still, her vision was colored red and black, pain and fear clouding her sight. Then, the knife was no longer there, no longer cutting. And the leader was gone too, where he'd gone, she didn't care.

Faintly, she felt strong arms picking up her small body; holding her protectively against a body as hard and steady as a mountain. She heard a rough voice growling furiously incoherent words at the gang. Somehow she doubted many were left conscious to hear the tirade. Suddenly, the words were no longer fierce, but soft and inquisitive. He was talking to her, asking her something. She nodded her head, barely, hoping that would suffice as an answer.

Apparently it did, because then she was being borne along, held securely in those strong arms, to some unknown destination. Deciding that if the man was nice enough to save her from the gang, he was nice enough not to kill her if she let her guard down. So she laid her head on his broad shoulder and slept.

Her dream wasn't red and black, but painted all in green.

* * *

Zoro walked along an empty cobblestone street, the miniscule girl pressed tightly against his chest. Every few seconds his eyes flicked down to her face, looking for signs of life. He would only look away when he had seen a small puff of labored breath escape tightly closed lips.

He was worried, and Roronoa Zoro was rarely worried. The girl's cropped hair was matted with blood, lacerations covered her face and a deep gash on her jaw showed glimpses of bone. He feared the rest of her body looked the same. But, now wasn't the time to look for other injuries under the layers of grime encrusted clothes that shrouded her underfed body. Now, he needed to find the ship.

Never before had his nonexistent sense of direction proved an actual problem. Mostly it was an inconvenience that he blamed on whoever was available at the time. Usually the love-cook, sometimes Ussop. Maybe the sea witch if he was in a particularly foul mood. Never before had he actually worried that he wouldn't make it back to the ship in time. Never before had it actually mattered like it did now.

Just when he was prepared to cut his way through the entire town to find where they had docked, the scent of something disgustingly familiar hit his nose. Reluctantly, he breathed in deeply, which only confirmed his original thought. He hoisted the girl up higher on his hip and followed his nose towards the source of the smell. And leaning casually against the wall of one of the stores lining the town's main street was the shitty cook, a cigarette casually dangling from his lips. To all the world he would have looked like an exasperated master waiting for his comically disobedient dog to return home. To Zoro, he looked like an asshole.

"Took you long enough, Marimo." Sanji drawled, holding the cigarette between two delicate fingers as he exhaled the smoke in a hazy swirl towards the swordsman.

"Stop that," Zoro growled in warning, neatly sidestepping the vortex of death as it floated lazily towards him. "We need to get back to the ship. Now."

For a moment Sanji seemed prepared to make a scathing retort, as per routine, but then he caught sight of the bloody mess of a girl clutched desperately in Zoro's arms. And then he was steering the swordsman towards the ship, all hints of lazy contentment gone, replaced by an urgent need to help the bundled up girl in Zoro's arms.

Maybe it was because Zoro had seemed so worried, which was very unZoro-like. Maybe it was because the girl had been paler than a full moon hanging heavily over the ocean in the aftermath of a particuraly trying battle. Maybe it was because the girl's shoulder blades had made unhealthy sharp angles against the sweater that swathed her petite frame. Maybe it was because her cheeks at been sunken and sallow, like she had been stuck on a rock in the middle of the ocean for an innumerable amount of days watching the horizon with unseeing eyes for help that might never come.

Sanji was generally a very sure man, in fact, he prided himself on his sureness. But right now, as he hurried along the dock towards the Thousand Sunny, Zoro's t-shirt grasped just a little too tightly in his fist—it wasn't shaking, definetly not shaking—he couldn't pinpoint anyone reason as to why he had to make sure that little slip of a girl was okay—she would be okay, Chopper could fix her, she would be fine, she would be. For whatever reason, he had to help her. And he decided that it was easier to just not question why.

* * *

Never before had she remembered waking up on something soft. It was always filthy, rock hard ground or itchy straw digging annoyingly into any inch of exposed skin. Never before had she been caringly wrapped in warm sheets that didn't dig annoyingly into her skin. But that was how she woke up that morning. At least, she thought it was morning. She didn't want to open her eyes just yet to check. That would ruin the illusion that everything was alright. That she really was on a soft bed, wrapped in warm sheets.

"I know you're awake," A gravelly voice said quietly, close to her ear.

In her defense, it had been instinct. And who could blame her really, after the night she had been through. That's what she told herself, anyway as she apologized over and over again to the man she had just involuntarily punched in the nose. He was staring back at her with a bemused expression, his hand covering his bleeding nose in an off-handed way, as if he didn't really notice the blood. As if bleeding was a normal thing for him.

She apologized again, her eyes murky with guilt.

"Don't." He said, holding up one blood splattered hand in a placating gesture, "Chopper will fix it." And he said that with such assurance, with such belief, that—regardless of the fact that she had no idea whom Chopper was—she believed him wholeheartedly.

"How're you feeling?" He asked in the same gravelly voice, pitching it low and calming so as not to startle her again. She appreciated his effort, though it wasn't necessary now. He had grabbed a bundle of bandages and pressed the entire thing to his nose in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. She found it comical, but denied the giggle that rose up in her throat.

He was staring at her expectantly, for a moment she was confused, but then—oh, right, the question. She looked down at herself, examining. No longer was she covered in an oversized sweater and pants. Instead, someone had dressed her in a shirt and shorts just her size. The infected and oozing cuts that had covered her arms and legs were all properly bandaged up and no longer hurt with the dull, itching ache she had long grown accustomed to. She reached one small hand up to hesitantly feel her jaw, where the boy had cut her so deeply. A bandage was secured over it, and the piercing pain from before no longer turned her vision red and black.

The entire time she examined herself, as if seeing her body for the first time, Zoro watched her curiously, still holding the bandages to his nose.

"I'm fine," The girl said, and the surprise in her voice stirred up a foreign feeling inside of Zoro. It was two-parts worry and one-part anger, a toxic mix inside of the overprotective young man.

"Has that happened to you before?" Zoro asked, already knowing the answer.

The single nod was enough of a reply to triple the already toxic feeling stirring inside of his chest.

His voice was deeper, rougher when he spoke next, restrained anger making it hard for him to keep his voice in check. "Where are your parents?"

"Gone."

"Who're you living with?"

"I don't live with anybody."

"Someone as young as you can't take care of yourself!" He burst out, the anger slipping through his carefully set up walls against his will.

"I'm seven years old!" The girl said pompously, as if this justified all the cruelty in her short life. As if that young age was somehow enough to handle all the emotional damage she had sustained.

"A seven year old should have someone to care for them," Zoro countered, as if that statement held any truth in the actuality of the harshness of the real world. He had spent far too long on that ship, spent far too long in the company of people he could always trust to take care of him. Somewhere along the way he had forgotten what the real world was like.

"Sometimes, seven year olds don't have that luxury," She replied in a voice far too mature and world weary for someone who was barely older than a toddler.

Zoro found that he didn't have an answer for that. They both sat there for a moment in contemplative silence. Zoro sat brooding which he wasn't often wont to do, and the little girl sat there staring at Zoro with a carefully neutral expression on her face that he swore he had seen somewhere before.

It took all of two seconds for the entirety of the Straw Hat crew to ruin their little moment of reflective solitude. Zoro was grateful. He had already surpassed his quota for deep, introspective thinking for one day.

First it was Luffy breaking into the infirmary like the well-meaning madman he was. Then it was Sanji kicking their captain back out again, yelling about giving the young lady her peace and quiet to heal. The irony was lost on Sanji, but not on Zoro. Then Chopper was there, his authorative doctors voice commanding attention from them all. Crowded in the doorway, Zoro could see his more competent crew mates waiting quietly for the okay from Chopper.

Zoro didn't leave the girl's bedside, and Chopper didn't ask him to.

She was quiet while Chopper fussed over her. She didn't wince when he examined the deep gash on her cheek, nor did she make any noise when he poured rubbing alcohol over the healing cuts on her arms and legs to clean them out again.

Luffy had been a nuisance for about five more seconds after his original outburst, but Nami had dealt with him quickly enough—damn Captain and his inability to read the mood. Everyone else was quiet, like a courtroom waiting for the jury's verdict.

It came in the form of Chopper nodding his head with a sigh of relief. "You'll be fine," He told her in a soft voice, "The infections aren't as bad as I originally thought and that gash will heal with minimal scarring."

She smiled at him wanly, not at all perturbed by the talking reindeer—at least that is what she had deciphered him to be. She wasn't in the habit of stereotyping anyone; she found it to be a rather irksome habit of the narrow minded.

The momentary peace in the infirmary was lost as soon as that smile—however small—hit her lips. With speed gained only from years of being an endearing nuisance to all those around him, Luffy was right in from of the young girl, a wide smile cracking his face in two. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was promptly shut by the force of the punch to the crown of his head. Nami stood above him, her eyes gleaming with righteous sea witch fury as her captain collapsed at her feet with a moan of "WWHHHYYYY?"

She ignored him.

She sat gingerly on the side of the bed and turned a sympathizing face towards the young girl; for once it was devoid of all ulterior motives. "It seems our resident pack mule—" Zoro grunted a reproach, but the navigator plowed on— "has conveniently forgotten to ask you your name."

The girl stared at Nami for a moment, trying to decide if she could trust her. She seemed to be in league with the man who saved her, so she couldn't be that bad. But, she had rather viciously punched the rambucious boy in the straw hat.

Seeing the hesitation on the girl's face, Nami stuck her hand out in an abrupt gesture and said in her most adult voice, "My name's Nami, I am the navigator of this ship, and it is very nice to meet you."

The girl stared at her for a moment, mouth partially open. Then she giggled. And giggled and giggled and giggled. And that made Nami giggle. And soon the two of them were giggling together like maniacs while the rest of the crew stared at the pair like they were completely insane foreigners.

And then the girl said her name. She said it so quietly, all but one of them missed it. Robin smiled sweetly at the girl and rolled the name around with in her head. She quiet liked the sound of it.

"Flie," the girl repeated louder, "My names Flie."

And then she looked expectantly at the man sitting beside her. Zoro stared back, confused for several seconds.

"She wants to know your name, dumbass." Sanji stated matter-of-factly from where he was standing beside Robin.

"Please don't cuss in front of her, cook-san," Robin gently admonished, "Young girls are very impressionable."

Flie look prepared to deny that statement, when Zoro grunted, "Roronoa Zoro," and awkwardly stuck his hand out towards Flie.

She looked at his hand for a moment, then up at his face, then back down at his hand. Zoro thought she wasn't going to shake it at all, when she leapt forcefully out of bed and threw her arms around his neck in a squeeze-the-life-out-of-you kind of hug. He hugged her back, just not as life-threatening in his tightness.

Franky and Chopper pretended like they weren't crying.

Sanji lit a cigarette that Robin put out without her eyes ever leaving the hugging swordsman and little girl. He didn't try to light another one.

"Ya know," Luffy said to know one in particular from where he sat on the ground pointedly ignoring the large lump on his head, "I said from the very beginning that I wanted ten people on my crew."

None of them argued with him. There was no arguing with Luffy after all. He would  
simply refuse their refusal. Besides, no one on the crew really minded having a kid. They were all kind of paternal anyway. It came with the territory.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Second chapter! Yay! I got great reviews from this which is awesome! Thanks so much because I love writing this!**

**Word Count- Almost 3000**

**Rating- T I guess but not really anything bad...more of a K+...but whatever**

_**A week had passed since Flie had been inducted into the Straw Hat family. While two of those seven days had been spent on the island stocking up on goods and supplies, the other five days had been spent sailing and getting to know the small girl better.**_

Sitting in a loose circle on the sun-washed upper decks of the ship, Usopp, Chopper, Luffy and Flie glared at one another in stony silence.

"Luffy," Usopp said in a clipped voice, "It is your turn."

Grumbling under his breath, Luffy surveyed the cards that he held fanned out in his hand, "Flie...do you have any 2's?"

"GO FISH!" Flie yelled, a smile breaking over her face as she got one step closer to beating the others in the card game.

Robin smiled to herself from her perch on the lawn chair that Franky had set up for her close to the small group. Closing her eyes, she carefully blossomed a hand with an eyeball on the palm next to Flie so she could look over her cards. Knowing that Usopp had three 7's, she pointed a disembodied finger at Flie's solitary 7.

"Usopp, do you have any sevens?"  
"No fair! Robin's helping you!" Usopp yelled as he begrudgingly handed over the three cards.

"Cheater, cheater!" Chopper and Luffy began singing as they too prepared to admit defeat to the young girl.

Flie merely stuck out her tongue and collected her winnings: a lollipop from Chopper's secret stash of candy, a ring that Luffy had found in the stomach of a fish he had caught, and a brand new slingshot from Usopp.

"Zoro! Zoro! Look what I won!" Flie called out as she raced over to where the swordsman was napping in the sunlight. When the man didn't stir from his sleep, Flie slowed down and studied his prone form. A mischievous smile spread over her face as she slowly crept forward and crouched down before pouncing onto the swordsman's hard stomach.

"OOF! What the-? Flie what are you doing?" Zoro asked in exasperation as he studied the small girl that was currently sitting cross legged on his stomach.

"You didn't wake up when I called you so I tried something else!" Flie replied with an innocent smile.

Rolling his eyes, Zoro sat up and leaned against the railing, adjusting Flie so that she could sit comfortably in his lap.

"Look what I won from Usopp, Chopper and Luffy!" Flie said excitedly, waving her winnings in Zoro's still sleepy face.

"Tch, you're hanging around Nami too much. If we aren't careful, the two of you will rob all of us of everything we own!" Zoro grumbled, not quite able to suppress the proud grin that stole across his face as his little girl smiled happily up at him.

_Click! _"Another one for the blackmail book!" Nami sang as she danced away, waving the already developing picture in the air.

Zoro sighed and shifted Flie out of his lap as he stood up to stretch. Turning to Robin, he gave her a pointed look as he started to walk over to the crow's nest, hoping to get in a little bit of training before the small bundle of energy demanded his attention again.

Robin nodded her head slightly to show that she understood before turning to Flie and saying, "How about I read you that princess book you like so much, Flie?"

"Ooohhh! Yes, but this time, can you say she has blue hair instead of gold hair? I think she would be more pretty that way!" Flie said as she skipped over to the older woman.

"I think I agree with you, blue hair is much more befitting for a princess."

The two walked off to the library, while Zoro sighed, finally able to get a moment to himself. In the past week, Flie had barely left his side, and although he loved her company, the lack of sleep and training was starting to fray his nerves. Breathing in the sweaty, steel tinged air of the workout room in the crow's nest, Zoro quickly stripped of his shirt and began stretching. Figuring he would start small after not training for a week, he picked up his thousand pound dumbbells and began a long set of bicep curls.

Grinning slightly at the satisfying burn that began to spread up and down his arms, he quickly moved onto a few more heavy duty weights. After thirty minutes of single-mindedly lifting weights to the point of exhaustion, Zoro sank down to the ground to meditate.

Emptying his mind, Zoro sucked in a deep breath and attempted to become one with his surroundings. Just as he had slipped into the much missed empty-minded state, a loud screech followed by an even louder crash assaulted his ears. He immediately pinpointed the voice as Flie's and before he had even realized it, he was flying down the ladder at top speed.

Trusting his instincts, Zoro followed the sounds of the other crewmates pounding feet to the galley. Inside, he found a sight he might have laughed at if he wasn't so worried. Sanji stood frozen, staring in mortification at a pale tan globe that was sitting on the floor, an overturned mixing bowl balancing precariously on its head.

"Flie!" Zoro yelled as he rushed forward to grab the batter soaked young girl. He grabbed a towel from the counter and roughly wiped away the mess to find a sniffling Flie underneath.

"What happened?" He asked, unconsciously rocking her back in forth in an attempt to calm her down.

"I-I w-wa-wanted to see what Sanji was m-making, but h-he wasn't in the k-kitchen so I tried to look by m-myself...h-he came in really l-lo-loudly and scared me and the bowl f-fe-fell on top of me!" she wailed, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks.

"It's okay," Zoro soothed as he rubbed her back calmingly.

"N-no it's not!" Flie sniffled before getting up and running over to Sanji, "I-I'm sowwy for wasting food! Your eyebrow s-scared me!" Flie cried as she hugged Sanji tightly around his leg.

Finally breaking out of his stupor, Sanji crouched down in front of Flie and lifted her cake streaked face to look at him, "It's okay Flie. I know it was an accident. But please," he said in a pleading tone, "Don't be afraid of my eyebrow! It isn't going to hurt you! I promise!"

Gazing up at Sanji through her choppy, cake batter soaked bangs, Flie said, "I-I don't wanna be scared of it anymore."

Gathering up the frightened girl in a soft hug not minding the liquidy batter that was smeared across his favorite jacket, Sanji said, "You don't have to be afraid, I promise."

After Flie stepped away from Sanji with a smile on her face, Robin swept her up and said, "Bath time, little Flie!"

"No!" Flie cried as she struggled to escape the multitude of arms, "Zoro! Save me...I don't wanna take a bath!"

"Sorry squirt," Zoro said with a smile, "I have to agree with Robin on this one...you need a bath."

Flie gasped at Zoro's bathtime betrayal before obstinately puffing out her bottom lip and consenting to Robin carrying her away.

* * *

"Poor girl has no proper clothes," Nami said as she laid out a large grey shirt and belt on Flie's bed.

"I would hate to have to wear Zoro's shirts every day," Usopp agreed, wrinkling his nose at some suspicious splotches that stained a white shirt spilling out of Zoro's dresser.

"I like Zoro's shirts!" Flie protested from where she had appeared in the doorway, swaddled only in a puffy white towel. "They are like big comfy dresses!"

Zoro snorted from where he stood behind her before ushering her inside to change. Picking her up and placing her on the bed, he dried her hair and then pulled the shirt over her head before belting it at the waist.

"Don't worry Flie!" Nami said, "Just two more days and you can have a bunch of your own clothes! Atalowpriceofcourse..."

"Flie wasn't listening though, a brilliant idea had just popped into her mind. Taking a few steps backwards, she crouched down on her bed and sprang forward, leaping into the void between her and Zoro, "ZORO!"

"Oohpphh..." Zoro barely managed to catch the small girl as she came hurtling towards him.

"Carry me!" she sang happily as she wrapped her thin arms around Zoro's neck.

Zor rolled his eyes in mock exasperation, but Nami and Usopp both saw the small smile that settled on his face before he turned around to carry Flie back to the upper deck.

"He is a total softy," Usopp muttered to Nami.

"Makes for great blackmail," she agreed.

* * *

As Zoro was carrying Flie back to the grassy upper deck, they both opened their mouths in wide, jaw popping yawns in complete synchronization.

"Nap?" Zoro asked Flie.

"Nap," Flie agreed.

Franky rolled his eyes from where he had been observing them on his way back from the galley. Watching as they sunk down to sprawl out on the floor, he thought to himself _Like father, like daughter_.

A few moments later, Usopp, from up in the crow's nest, spied Nami chuckling suspiciously as she crept up to the sleeping pair and took several pictures of Zoro protectively cuddling Flie to his chest as she sucked her thumb on one hand and used the other to grasp Zoro's.

_For memories_, she thought to herself, _Oh who am I kidding...This is great blackmail material!_

* * *

_**The next two days passed in the same fashion. The Straw Hat's struggled to contain Flie's increasingly adventurous (and messy) tendencies while still going on with their own lives. It proved to be a worthwhile challenge though, especially whenever she rewarded them with one of her innocent and trusting smiles. **_

* * *

"Island! Island! Island! Island!" Flie chanted from where she was perched on Luffy's shoulders. Usopp and Chopper both took up the chant with her when they caught sight of the land too.

Once Franky had docked the ship, everyone gathered in front of Nami, eager to get their spending money so they could explore the new town and gather supplies.

"Okay," Nami began, "Does everybody know what they have to get in town?"

"Yes, Nami," everyone chorused back.

"Good! Come collect your money and then go on! We will meet back here for dinner around 7."  
"Yay!" Luffy, Chopper and Usopp cried before snatching up their money and leaping off onto the docks.

"C'mon you two!" Nami demanded, grabbing both Zoro and Flie by the backs of their necks before they could stealthily try to sneak away. "You aren't getting out of this! Flie needs new clothes!"

"But why do I have to come?" Zoro asked huffily.

"Because you are her father!"

"Tch...whatever..."

"But I don't want new clothes! Zoro's shirts are comfy!" Flie protested, hugging her dark blue shirt-dress protectively.

"Too bad! I won't have badly dressed people on this crew!"

"Usopp wears overalls..." Zoro pointed out blandly.

"And moss head over here wears the same outfit everyday," Sanji reminded her, ignoring the heated glare he got from the swordsman.

"I won't have a badly dressed girl on this ship!" Nami corrected before dragging away the protesting Zoro and Flie.

* * *

"Zoro...Zoro...Zoro...Zoro..."

"What?" Zoro asked as he snatched at the hand that had been poking him repeatedly for the past minute.

"I'm bored!" Flie whined as she peered up at him from her seat on the chair next to him.

"So am I, but you don't see me poking people and being annoying," Zoro pointed out as he reached out to still her anxiously bouncing body.

"Can we go get ice cream? Or candy? Ooohh or a toy?" Flie begged, eager to get out of the quiet, stuffy clothing store.

"Well, we have to escape from Nami first," Zoro muttered.

"But she's in shopping mode..." Flie said fearfully.

They both turned to stare at Nami who was currently arguing over the price of the pile of clothes she had picked out for Flie. They both jumped when Nami suddenly barked, "Flie! Come here!"

"Y-yes?" Flie asked anxiously as she scampered over to Nami and the sales clerk.

Glaring at the man behind the register Nami said, "Do you really want this poor little girl to go cold because she couldn't get proper clothes because your prices are ridiculously high!"

Flie opened her eyes wide and peered innocently up at the clerk, quivering her lower lip ever so slightly just like Nami had taught her.

"Nice try, but that's not gonna work," the man said unimpressed.

"How about this?" Zoro growled from where he stood, arms crossed and eyes glaring, behind Flie. He was bored and tired and in dire need of booze; this shopping trip was _over. _

"Oh my. Yes! I can meet that price-in fact let me lower it by another 5 thousand beli! Let me just quickly ring this up for you and you all can be on your way!" the sales clerk said while trying not to nervously glance at the pissed of swordsman.

"Why thank you!" Nami said sweetly, glad that she had gotten the deal she wanted. Turning to Zoro and Flie she said, "I suppose you two can go now-"

Before she could even finish, Zoro had lifted Flie up to sit on his shoulders and they were running out of the dimly lit shopping yelling, "Freedom! Freedom!"

Nami sighed; those two were so similar, it was scary...

* * *

They had been wandering around for almost two hours; Zoro adamantly refusing to follow the directions Flie kept trying to give him. Tugging on his short green hair, Flie said, "Left Zoro left! I see the ice cream store! NO! Your other left! Wait-which way is left...Robin said to make the two L's...Zoro what does an L look like? Oh nevermind! You _were_ going in the right direction! Wait...you passed it..."

Taking a hard right and following whichever way Flie pulled his hair, the two finally found the ice cream parlor.

"Zoro, I want chocolate with lots of rainbow sprinkles! Like lots and _lots_! Make sure they don't just put a little...cause I like sprinkles!"

"I understand, squirt...lots of sprinkles..."

"Zoro?" Flie asked as they waited in line.

"Hmm?"  
"Are you gonna get ice cream?"

"Well, I was planning on seeing if they sold booze..."

"It is an ice cream parlor, I don't think they are gonna have any of that icky bitter stuff."

"Actually," one of the store clerks, who had been secretly gushing over the cute couple the swordsman and the young girl made, said, "our newest flavor is sake! It is a big hit amongst the parents!"

"I will have a triple scoop of that then," Zoro said, slightly curious as to how sake tasted in ice cream form, "and the squirt here will have a single scoop of chocolate with _lots _of rainbow sprinkles."

"Lots and lots!" Flie said, wanting everyone to know just how many sprinkles she wanted.

"A little cutie like you deserves lots of sprinkles!" the employee agreed as she poured on scoop after scoop of multi-colored sprinkles.

"Yaayyy!" Flie cheered as she was handed her sprinkle encrusted ice cream. Immediately taking a huge lick, Zoro couldn't help but laugh at the chocolatey sprinkle covered mustache she got. Flie responded by laughing at the dab of ice cream that was on his nose. They spent the better part of the next hour teasing each other on how much ice cream they got on them.

When they finally arrived back at the _Thousand Sunny_ three hours after they were supposed to return, Nami couldn't help but yell at both of them for getting chocolate ice cream and sprinkles all over Flie's new princess outfit. All the other crew members could do was laugh at the ridiculously cute spectacle Flie made in her blue tulle skirt and pink princess shirt all covered in sprinkles.

"How did you get it in your _hair?_" Nami cried in distress ignoring the laughter that had enveloped the rest of the crew. She sighed knowing that no amount of scolding or yelling could counteract the unbearable cuteness of a five year older in a tutu with sprinkles in her hair.

**Reviewer's Corner**

**Guest- Thank you so much for reviewing! And is this update soon enough for ya ;)? **

**DaughterofAthena52- Thanks for the review! Ya I laughed so hard at myself when I did that with Franky! It just came to me ya know? And thanks for the compliment on my dialogue!**

**Zoro123- Love the review! I plan on updating really regularly so keep updated!**

**Flow- Thanks :)**

**MelissaRM- Thanks for the review! Hope you like this chappie!**

**Lyn- It might sound weird but I am in love with it too!It is so much fun to write!**

**hesmus- Yay :) Glad you like it! **

**Sarin-sama- Isn't he adorable with kids?! Ya Sanji's eyebrows are spooky... hahaha**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN- Yay! Third chapter baby! Thank you all so much for all the great feedback! you guys are amazing! Thanks for all the readers, reviewers, favorites and follows! It's awesome! Also, much thanks to some great plot and scene ideas from the awesome Mage of Hope! If y'all get a chance, go check out some of her stuff! It's great!**

**Chapter 3- The Birth of A Dream**

**Word Count- 2187 words**

The Thousand Sunny creaked and groaned as the darkened waves beat a staccato rhythm against the wooden hull. Inside their respective bedrooms, the men and women of the Straw Hat crew slept in peace. Of course, that peace wasn't necessarily silent. Peace on the Sunny was filled with a musical symphony of different pitched snores, sleep talking and Luffy's not so subtle escapes to the kitchen and Sanji's even less subtle whispered yells as he kicked him back out.

Tonight though, the peaceful symphony that made up the Straw Hat's nighttime routine was broken by the soft pitter-patter of sock concealed feet. Flie ran down the hallway, silent tears streaking down her pudgy toddler cheeks. Coming to the men's room, she silently opened the door and snuck inside.

Swiping at the silent tears that ran down her face, she scurried up to one of the lower bunks and shook the sleeping figure inside.

"Zoro! Zoro!" she whispered urgently, shaking the green-haired figure repeatedly.

"Hnn," Zoro muttered groggily before turning over in bed and opening his eyes to see who was trying to wake him up, "What's wrong squirt?"  
"Zoro, I had a bad dream!" Flie whimpered.

"Oh, err okay, come here," he said as he lifted her up into his lap.

"I-it was about m-my m-mo-mommy!" she cried as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Shhhh," Zoro whispered soothingly, "It's over now, it was just a dream."

He continued to rock her back and forth and rub her back until she fell asleep with a soft snore in his arms. Smiling down at her peaceful face, Zoro carefully laid back down in bed with Flie snuggled safely in his arms.

The next morning Zoro and Flie were awakened by several bright flashes of blinding light. Rubbing their eyes to clear the spots away, they both peered up with bleary eyes at the grinning face of Nami.

"What the hell woman?" Zoro grunted as he glared up at the mischievous red head.

"Just more lovely memories!" she sing-songed back.

"More like blackmail..." Zoro muttered, "Alright squirt! Time to get up! C'mon."

"Nnnooo! Just five more minutes? Please?" Flie whined before snuggling deeper under the covers.

"No can do squirt!" Zoro said before picking her up and swinging her around in circles to wake her up.

"ZZZOOOORRRROOOO!" Flie squealed as she spun round and round.

He finally set the madly giggling girl down when he heard the loud call for breakfast from above.

"Yay! Food!" Flie yelled as she attempted to run past Zoro; instead of running _through_ the door...she ran into it. Backing up and giggling, she carefully walked through the door and up to the galley. All Zoro could do was roll his eyes and chuckle at his little girl's antics. Almost two months with the crew now and she was such a fixed point in their lives that he couldn't imagine life without her.

As he followed Flie at a much slower pace, he pondered over what the nightmare she had last night could have entailed. She had mentioned something about her mother...hopefully she wouldn't have a repeat of whatever had frightened her so much.

Up in the galley, Flie was sitting in her special seat talking animatedly with Robin about something. Sliding into the seat next to her, Zoro snatched up some french toast before Luffy could take it. Tuning into the conversation on his left, he heard Flie ask Robin a question in a low voice.

"What did you say Little Flie? I couldn't hear you?" Robin asked with a small smile.

"I said..." Flie began, "Cwanyoutweachmetowrite?"

"Squirt, you need to speak up!" Zoro reprimanded her softly.

Flie let out a frustrated sigh as she stared at Robin with pleading eyes, as if begging her to understand without the young girl having to actually say it outloud.

Everyone around the table paused in their various conversations to tune into the one going on at the end of the table.

"What are you trying to say sweetie?" Nami asked sweetly.

"Fine...I'll just ask...Robin, can you teach me to write?"

Robin beamed down at Flie, secretly overjoyed that the small girl was showing interest in something scholarly.

"Of course, Little Flie! But, why the sudden interest?"  
"Well..." the small girl drawled, "All of you guys have such cool adventures and Luffy is gonna be pirate king and Zoro is going to be the greatest swordsguy ever but how will people know they did it if it isn't written down?"

Around the table, slow smiles broke out as the crewmates realized they were watching the birth of a dream. A beautiful dream that they had inspired. Zoro smiled down at Flie as she studied her hands in her lap.

"Nevermind...it's stupid isn't it..." Flie murmured.

"No!" Luffy yelled, surprising Flie immensely, "If that's your dream then you are going to pursue it! No one gives up on their dreams on my crew!"

Flie looked up at Luffy with shining eyes; the moment might have been a little more powerful though if their captain hadn't shoved his finger up his left nostril.

"Come along Little Flie," Robin said with a soft smile, "We should get started."

"Okay!" Flie said before jumping off her chair and following after Robin.

* * *

"Do you think they're okay?" Usopp asked nervously from his spot outside the library door.

Chopper shrugged his small shoulders and said, "Dunno, they've been in there for hours. Sanji said Flie didn't even want lunch."

"I still don't believe that! Flie would never turn down food!" Usopp said.

"Are you two bothering them?" Zoro growled from where he had appeared behind the two younger crew members.

"W-what? Us? Bother them? No way!" Usopp stuttered, "We were just...were just making sure the eerrrr _giant flying _umm _maggots_ yea maggots didn't bother them!"

"That was pathetic Usopp...just pathetic," Zoro muttered as he grabbed Usopp by the nose and hoisted Chopper up onto his shoulders and walked away.

"Props for trying though," Chopper said from his spot on Zoro's shoulders.

* * *

"Okay Little Flie, I want you to write down this sentence: 'The cat sat.'" Robin instructed.

Flie picked up her pen and dipped it into some ink before carefully writing down the sentence Robin had dictated to her. "How's that?" she asked eagerly.

Robin gazed over the small fishgirl's shoulder at the shaky words she had written crookedly on the page. She smiled down at the eager young girl and said, "Very good! Now let's try something a little more complex."

"Okay, lemme just get a fresh sheet of paper!" Flie said as she shuffled through the stack of other written on pages. Finally finding a fresh sheet of paper, she picked up her freshly ink-dipped pen and listened for her next sentence.

"Write down: 'Luffy at all of the meat again!'" Robin said with a small smile.

Flie giggled at the sentence as she painstakingly wrote it down. "Robin? How do you spell meat?"

"Well there are two different kinds of 'meat'; the one you are looking for is spelled M.E.A.T. The other one is for when you first meet someone and it is spelled M.E.E.T"

"Oh, okay! So, how's this?"

"Perfect, Little Flie! Let's take a break though, I do believe Cook-san just announced dinner!" Robin announced as she stood up from her chair.

"Okay! I'm starving!" Flie agreed as she jumped off her chair and stretched. They walked up to the dining room in comfortable silence.

"Hey squirt!" Zoro greeted his daughter as she bounded into the room and jumped up into her chair.

"Hey Zoro! I had lots of fun with Robin today! She taught me lots of cool stuff! Like how to spell meat!"

Zoro shot Robin a look and said, "That's what you taught my daughter? How to spell meat?"

Robin merely chuckled; Zoro rolled his eyes but the small smile gracing his lips gave away his true feelings.

* * *

_**Early the next morning in the ship's galley**_

* * *

"Sanji?" the small voice coming from the doorway almost scared Sanji right out of his apron.

"Oh gosh Flie! You scared me; I didn't even hear you come in!" Sanji exclaimed as he turned around, "What do you need?"

"Well...I was wondering if I could help you cook breakfast this morning?" Flie asked in a quiet voice. Sanji stood there and stared for a long time before a huge smile broke out across his face and he exclaimed, "Of course my dear little Flie! It would be my pleasure to teach you the amazing art of cooking!"

Flie smiled and ran forward to hug Sanji around his leg, "Yay! Thank you!"

"Okay first you need to wash your hands and put on this apron! Good, now what do you wanna make?"

"WAFFLES! Waffles-waffles-waffles! Ooh with chocolate chips!" Flie chanted as she bounced up and down.

"Fine, fine, we can make waffles! Lemme just gather all of the ingredients."

* * *

The rest of the Straw Hat crew woke up an hour later to the wafting smells of charred chocolate and burnt meat. Pinching their noses, they all groggily walked into the galley to see what was going on. They were greeted by a grimacing Sanji frantically dispersing the smoke rising from the griddle and a madly grinning Flie who was standing next to the table.

"I made breakfast this morning!" Flie announced with a huge smile.

"Oh did you know, sweetie?" Nami asked as she eyed the blackened charred lumps that were sitting on each of their plates.

"Yea! Sanji said I did great!"

Sanji stared at her for a second before saying, "Oh, yes-ha. ha. She did great!" Then, turning to Franky he whispered, "She burnt _water!_ _WATER!_ I didn't even know that was possible! It was a nightmare!"

Franky's mouth fell open as he stared at Sanji then turned to gape at the breakfast that was laid out on the table.

"Well?" Flie said expectantly from her seat at the table. Everyone else reluctantly sat down and stared down at their plates.

Usopp was just about to complain about his chalky waffles and dehydrated, black bacon when he looked up and got a face full of Zoro's patented If-You-Don't-Eat-This-And-You-Make-My-Daughter-Sad-I-Will-Skin-You-Alive glare. Usopp gulped and quickly shoveled one of the blackened lumps into his mouth. Everyone else apprehensively followed suit.

"Ack! Ahem, th-this is great, squirt!" Zoro wheezed out after he gulped down some water.

"Oh yea," Franky agreed with a grimace, "It's really super!"

"Are you kidding me?" Flie asked incredulously, "This sucks!"

Everyone gasped around the table before promptly spitting out their half-chewed breakfasts.

"Wait, if you knew it sucked then why did you make us eat it?" Usopp cried as he scraped off his tongue with a spoon.

"Because I knew it would be funny!" Flie said with a mischievous smile.

Everyone glared at the grinning five year old, but she just giggled and asked Sanji for some fruit. Sanji sighed and grabbed a spare breakfast spread from the fridge. After everyone had washed the charred waffle taste out of their mouths with fresh fruit and toast, Robin and Flie left for the library to continue their lessons.

"Ya know," Nami began after the two had left, "It's good that she has something to occupy her time. Especially since it involves learning."

"I've been thinking about that actually," Zoro said.

"You? Thinking? Ha! I'd like to see that moss head!" Sani scoffed as he cleared the table.

"Tck, whatever idiot cook, I don't have to listen to you!"

"What's that supposed to mean marimo?"  
"Figure it out idiot!"

"Shut up both of you!" Nami yelled as her two fists pounded down on their heads, "You were saying Zoro?"  
Rubbing the steaming lump on his head Zoro said, "Well, we've been lucky so far."

"How so?" Brooke asked.

"Well, we haven't really been attacked by anyone serious in a while, but what if we are? Flie is going to need to be able to defend herself if worse comes to worse!"

"But we can just protect her!" Nami protested.

"But what if we can't?" Zoro argued.

"He's got a point Nami," Usopp said.

"Ugh, fine! But simple stuff! And absolutely _no_ weight lifting! She is way too young for that!" Nami exclaimed.

"Great! I guess we can start after lunch!"

"Speaking of lunch," Luffy said, "Sanji! From now on only _you_ are allowed to cook my meat!"

**AN: Hahahaha I love when Luffy gets protective over his meat! So...what did you think? Please review with comments and suggestions! I love to hear from my fabulous readers!**

**Reviewer's Corner**

**OkamiXaia- Thank you for the review!**

**inudbzgirl- Thanks for the review on my story! I had so much fun writing that part! **

**Mage of Hope- Thank's for the review! Honestly...I don't even know why I am replying because we already have such a long PM going! XD**

**Mountain97- Ohmy GOSH! Thank you for the great review! And don't worry, updates will be pretty quick because I love writing for this story!**

**koyuki hazuki cruel swordsgirl- yaay! So glad you like it! And Luffy will appear more as the fic goes on and Flie get's older, but in this story the main older crew members that will be appearing are Zoro (as dad), Robin (as a mother/teacher figure), and Nami and Sanji as close sister/brother or aunt/uncle type relationships. Luffy will appear more as this progresses for sure though!**

**gerson- Hahahaha well I have two little toddler brothers and they always end up with half their food on themselves and in their hair! How? I have absolutely no idea!**

**marauderlove- Thanks for the review :) Oh and well, I didn't want to rush the whole "powers" thing because she is so young, but of course Zoro would never have a daughter that couldn't protect herself so the whole next chapter will be about her powers and abilities and stuff!**

**Ailei-chan- Thanks for reviewing XD**

**Guest- HAHAHAHA I have no idea who you are but your review made me laugh soooo hard! A boy fangirling! Phew *wipes away tear of mirth* Your review is one of the reasons why I love writing this fic! Funny fic= funny reviews!**

**MelissaRM- I never stayed clean either...as a matter of fact it is still hard for me to not get ice cream on myself when I eat it...hahaha oh well! Thanks for reviewing!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Look who is back from oblivion! That right, ME! So midterms are finally over! Thank the Good Lord Almighty! They were awful! Boo hoo! But enough self-pity! Here is an extra lengthy chapter just for all of my amazing readers! You guys are seriously like the best! Love you all :) So, anyways, here we are! Brand new chapter! Flie learns to fight? What? Not Zoro's little girl! Wait...but that actually kind of makes sense! hahaha! And...surprise encounters? Loyalties tested? Families broken up? Nope! Nothing like that! It is all humor and Zoro's tough love folks! Prepare to laugh and fangirl! **

"Um...Usopp?" Flie asked as she looked at the sniper in amusement, "I don't think I need this."  
"Are you kidding me?!" Usopp screeched, "You need all the protection you can get!"

As he said this, Usopp finished wrapping the young fishgirl in a large roll of bubble wrap. He tore off the last piece of tape and wiped his forearm across his brow with a satisfied sigh.

"I can't move," Flie mumbled as she attempted to wiggle her bubble wrapped arms.

"It's a small price to pay!" Usopp declared as he helped Flie waddle out of his workshop.

When they finally reached the upper deck, the rest of the Straw Hat crew had already gathered together on the grassy lawn. As they all caught sight of Flie's ridiculous bubble wrap armor, their eyes widened and their jaws dropped in disbelief.

"Usopp, what did you do to Flie?" Zoro asked in an eerily calm voice.

"I-it's just some extra protection," Usopp replied with a stutter.

"And, why would she need protection from her father?" Zoro inquired in the same dangerously quiet voice as he stepped closer to the trembling sniper.

N-no reason!" Usopp squeaked as he quickly backed away from the advancing swordsman, desperately searching for a way out. His smirking crewmates did nothing to help him.

"Zoro?" Flie asked in a muffled voice.

"Hmmmm?"

"I can't move! Get this off me!"

"Oh, yea! Lemme just cut it off!" Zoro said as he swiftly drew a sword and aimed it at his daughter.

"Zoro! NO!" Several voice yelled as they ran towards the green-haired man.

"What?" he asked in a bored voice as he turned around to face the panicked pirates. Behind him Flie stood unharmed, a pile of cleanly sliced bubble wrap gathered around her feet.

"Nevermind," Sanji, Usopp and Chopper mumbled as they backed away from the swordsman.

"You ready to start, squirt?" Zoro asked as he moved out to the middle of the deck.

"What are we gonna do?" Flie asked with an innocent smile as she joined him.

"Hopefully nothing that will hurt my SUPER ship," Franky warned as he observed the excited duo.

Zoro just rolled his eyes before turning to Flie and saying, "Let's see what you can do!" With that, he picked Flie up, carefully handed his three swords to the only person he could trust to hold them-Nami-and dove off the side of the ship.

"What the hell?" Nami yelped as she raced to the railing to peer over the side.

"Moron dove off the ship with our precious Flie!" Sanji yelled as he prepared to dive off after them.

"Cook-san, calm down," Robin soothed, "Not only is Zoro a strong swimmer, but remember, Flie is a fishgirl."

"Oh yeah..." the cook said as he paused in slipping out of his jacket.

The crew gathered along the railing of the _Sunny_ to observe Zoro and Flie below. Zoro was steadily treading water, his green hair bobbing calmy above the water's surface while Flie was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh great! That shitty marimo has already lost her," Sanji said with a snort.

"No, look!" Nami cried as she pointed out to the water. A steady stream of rushing white water cut through the ocean straight towards the vulnerable swordsman.

"Oooff!" Zoro gasped as the stream of compressed water hit him hard in the gut.

Farther away, Flie's small head broke the surface and she beamed at Zoro's winded form.

"How was that?" she asked in a cheerful voice as she looked excitedly at the swordsman.

"Great job, squirt," he gasped out as he slowly regained his breath.

"Wow!" Luffy yelled from up above, "How did you do that, Flie?"

"Well, when I clap my hands together really hard underwater a big jet of water shoots out!" Flie explained as she smiled up at the pirate captain.

"That's so cool!" Luffy yelled down at Flie.

"Focus, squirt!" Zoro chided now that he had fully regained his breath.

"Sorry, Zoro!" Flie said as she dove back under the water.

Submerged under the cool relief of the waves, Flie smiled in childish joy as she inspected her water adapted body. She took her time inspecting the webbing that had grown between her fingers and toes. Her skin shone with an iridescent glow as water dappled sunlight filtered down through the waves and danced across her scale covered skin. Inside her mouth, she could feel the pointed tips of her newly sharpened teeth pressing against her lips. and her gills flapped comfortingly against the sides of her neck.

Gliding effortlessly through the water, she circled around Zoro's kicking legs like a hunting shark before shooting in and grabbing one of his ankles. Abruptly, she yanked Zoro beneath the water, submerging his head beneath the waves. In surprise, he released a thin stream of bubbles before he clamped his mouth shut again. His eyes widened in amusement when he saw Flie's mischievous grin, _What is she planning?_

Opening her mouth, she burbled, "Watch this!" Flie swan down beneath Zoro again and grabbed both of his ankles, and with surprising strength she spun him around in the water several times before flinging him up and out of the ocean. As he went flying, Flie swam up quickly after him and her head broke the surface just in time to watch Zoro's airborne body bounce off of Luffy's hastily bloated stomach.

"Whoa!" Usopp yelled in amazement, "I didn't know you were that strong, Flie!"

"Neither did I!" Flie yelled back as she swam up to the side of the boat. "Are you okay, Zoro?" she called up in concern.

"I'm fine, squirt!" Zoro yelled back from where he was laying on the deck, "Just thinking about laying here for a while; might take a nap for an hour...or four..."

"Makes sense that one of the Monster Trio has his own monster daughter..." Franky said as he watched Robin pull Flie up to the outer deck.

"That was. so. much. _FUN!_" she gushed as she ran over to the winded swordsman.

"Yea, well it was probably more fun for you than me," Zoro replied drily.

"Oops, sorry Zoro!" Flie said with a smile as she wrapped her short arms around the swordsman's neck.

"You really are strong!" Nami said in wonder as she walked over to the soaking wet girl, "Here's a towel."

"Oi!" Zoro groused, "Whadda 'bout me?"

"Shake dry like the moss-headed mutt you are," Sanji answered with a smirk.

"Who're you calling a mutt you stupid ero-cook?" Zoro growled as he glared up at the smirking cook.

"You," Sanji replied with a roll of his eyes, "Shake the water out of your ears, then maybe you won't say such stupid things."

"That's it," Zoro snarled before grabbing one of his katana and leaping up to swing it at Sanji. Blocking the slash with his steel enforced shoe, Sanji swung around and aimed a sharp kick at Zoro's collarbone. As the two fought on, Robin strode over to the gaping Flie and scooped her up.

"Why don't we let those two settle their 'dispute' and we can go get you some dry clothes?" Robin asked sweetly as she walked towards the girls room.

"Okay!" Flie said cheerfully, not giving a backwards glance towards the fighting duo. Once inside, Robin pulled out a fresh purple tulle skirt and a light blue cap-sleeved shirt from the young fishgirl's personal trunk. Just as Flie had finished pulling the shirt over her head, an angry explosion followed by a rough shudder of the _Sunny_ beneath their feet made Flie lose her footing on her already precarious perch on Robin's bed. Before the child could topple to the ground though, Robin deftly blossomed a few extra arms to catch her.

"What was that?" Flie inquired as she stared up at the archaeologist with wide eyes.

"Shall we find out?" Robin asked as she picked Flie up and hurried to join the rest of the crew.

For Flie and Zoro's lesson in the water, Franky had severely slowed down the _Thousand Sunny_ so as not to leave the swimming duo behind. While the crew had been preoccupied with Flie and Zoro's antics, another ship, cleverly disguised in mirrored panels, had crept up behind the unaware pirates.

"The new camouflage panels are working great! We have come into firing distance of the Straw Hat's ship, Captain," a marine underling announced.

"Perfect. Get me the Den Den Mushi that is hooked up to the speakers! We _will_ save that poor, innocent girl!"

Back on the _Thousand Sunny_, Franky and Usopp were hurrying to man the cannons to return fire when they were interrupted by a loud burst of static and then an even louder voice clearing its throat.

"Achem...Oi, you...is this thing working?" a gruff voiced echoed across the water.

"Yes sir!" another voiced replied.

"Oh, good! Ahem, Straw Hat Luffy! Hand over the young girl you have kidnapped _right now!_" the gruff voice ordered.

"What girl?" Luffy asked quizzically as he scratched the top of his head.

"Kidnapping young children is punishable by life time imprisonment!" the voice continued.

"Life time imprisonment?" Sanji scoffed, "We all have bounties...we're just going to end up dead if they get their hands on us anyway."

"I don't know what you're talking about weird guy, but the answer is no!" Luffy yelled back to the camouflaged ship.

Nami's hand flew to her mouth as the implication of what the marine's were yelling about finally dawned on her, "Flie! They're talking about Flie!"

"What?" Zoro growled as he took a protective step closer to his young daughter.

"They must have seen her with us at the last island and thought we kidnapped her!" Usopp exclaimed as the puzzle pieces finally fell into place for him as well.

"Sooo...it's a mystery..." Luffy deduced after an intense moment of thoughtful silence.

Nami sighed in exasperation but decided to let it slide just this once in lieu of the more pressing matter at hand.

"You can't have our precious little Flie, you bastards!" Sanji yelled at the ship.

"Language, cook-san," Robin reminded the foul-mouthed cook.

"Oh, right! I am so sorry; just forgot in my anger my dear Robin-chan!"

"It is quite alright, cook-san. Just don't let it happen again."

"We are willing to pay a ransom if it means getting that poor little girl back!" Another marine announced over the speaker.

Before Luffy could open his mouth and yell back a resounding _no_, Nami had flown across the deck and punched him into silence.

"Ow! Mawmi, whath wath thwath fwor?" Luffy whined as he rubbed his now severely misshapen head.

"Shhh!" Nami scolded, "I got this!" Turning to the marine ship, she announced, "Send over a small boat with one million belli and we've got ourselves a deal!"

"NAMI!" everyone on the ship yelled as they stared at the greedy navigator.

"Nami," Flie cried, "You can't sell me! Zoro, don't let her sell me!"

"I'm not going to sell you!" Nami whisper yelled. Turning to the rest of the crew she announced in a quiet voice, "Get ready to jump them as soon as they hand over the money! And Franky, go get a Coup de Burst ready!"

"I'm on it, girly!" Franky yelled as he went running off.

"Oooh, Nami-san is so cute when she is being sneaky!" Sanji sang as he stared love-struck at Nami. The two quite resembled each other at that moment, one with hearts in his eye, the other with belli.

"A small boat just started motoring over here!" Usopp announced from where he was keeping an eye on the other ship.

"Good," Nami said, "Everyone get ready!"

The single motor boat was tied to the side of the _Sunny_ by two marines as two more stood up next to their captain. Before any of the Straw Hats could react, the captain had bent down and jumped up onto the deck of the ship.

The gruff man swept cold eyes across the deck of the ship before they came to a stop on Flie. She backed away from his hard gaze, hiding her face in the still wet fabric of Zoro's pants.

"Scary," she murmured as she peaked at the Marine captain again.

"Shh," Zoro soothed as he absentmindedly patting one of his large hands on the Flie's head to soothe her.

"The money?" Nami inquired as she gazed at the captain and his lackeys.

"The child first," the captain replied cooley.

"No!" Flie shouted stubbornly as she clung fast to Zoro's leg, "You can't take me away from my daddy!"

"Your...daddy?" the captain said slowly, rolling the strange words around in his mouth, "Aren't you the kidnapped child?"

"I was _not_ kidnapped!" Flie shrieked as she glared at the offending man, "Zoro _is_ my daddy!"

"Honestly," the marine standing to the captain's left side said as he examined Zoro and Flie, "I don't see the resemblance..."

"Well," the marine behind him joined in, "They do both have weird colored hair..."  
"My hair is not weird colored!" both Zoro and Flie shouted in indignation.

"They both have pretty quick tempers too," another marine noted.

"Eh, I still don't see it," the first marine repeated.

Just then, tired with the meaningless side banter, both Zoro and Flie turned to the offending marines and shot them such dark, demonic death glares that it left the weak-hearted underlings quaking in their Navy issued boots.

"Ah," the first marine squeaked, "Now I see it."

Exasperated with the conversation and having realized that her original plan had been flushed down the toilet, Nami turned to Sanji and ordered, "Sanji-kun! Get the money!"

"Why of course my beautiful temptress of the sea!" Sanji said as he turned to the marines.

"You heard the lovely lady, hand over the money," Sanji threatened as he raised one of his legs in warning.

"Not until we get the child!" the captain replied obstinately.

"Flie is staying with us! And so is that money!" said Sanji as he struck out with a sharp, powerful kick aimed at the captain's solar plexus. The man was barely able to dodge before the shoe made contact with his ribs instead.

"Ooof!" the captain hit the ground hard, but had the presence of mind to roll away right before another black dress shoe came stomping down on the place where his head had just been. He quickly scrambled to his feet and turned to face the pirates, but before he knew what was happening he was flying through the air back at his own ship, the case of money gone from his hands.

"Thanks for the money!" Nami called out to the soaring marine as she hugged the case to her chest.

While Sanji had been dealing with the Marine captain, Luffy had made short work of the other unfortunate marines and had thrown them overboard.

"Oi, Franky!" Nami yelled to get the cyborg's attention, "Coup de burst, _now_!"

"I'm on it girly!"  
"And stop calling me that!"

"Everybody hold on to something!" the cyborg continued, ignoring the annoyed navigator, "Here we go! _COUP...DE...BURST!"_

The _Sunny_ went soaring through the air, above the stunned marines and far off into the distance and as they passed the other ship, Flie happily stuck her tongue out at the marines while clinging to the solid safety of Zoro's strong arms.

The airborne ship skipped a few times across the ocean's surface before finally landing with an almighty splash some distance away from their last marine encounter. Free to move about the ship again, everyone quickly gathered around Nami and their new acquisition.

Nami's eyes shone greedily as she frantically undid the clasps of the case and opened the lid. Inside, a piece of paper reading **STUPID PIRATES**mocked the navigator. After seeing the lack of money inside the case, the rest of the crew quickly backed away from Nami, wary of what she might do in her anger.

"There's...no _money!_" Nami hissed as she glared at the case, "Turn around! We are going back and beating the shit out of those bastards! Safety be damned!"

"Navigator-san," Robin warned, "Language..."

"Language be damned!" Nami yelled as she glared at the other pirates.

"How dare they do that to the beautiful Nami-san!" Sanji cried, "Nami-san, I, your handsome and dashing prince, will go back and personally tear those cheating bastards limb from limb for you!"

"Cook-san!" Robin said in warning as she glanced at the wide-eyed Flie.

"We aren't going back you stupid cook," Zoro said with finality as he glared at the livid cook.

"And why the hell not?"

"Language..."

"Because they want to fucking take Flie! That's why!"

"Enough!" Robin in said in a dangerous voice as she blossomed hands over Sanji's, Zoro's and Nami's mouths, "We have a young girl present and I will not tolerate that crude language around her! As her father you should know better! And we aren't going back."

Everyone gaped at Robin. Never, ever had she _ever_ done anything like that before! EVER! If any of the crew had been partial to Robin's background and had been aware of her own lack of a mother figure for most of her life, they would have understood her protective tendencies towards Flie, but as it was they merely stared at Robin before deciding to meekly do as she said.

The crew quietly dispersed around the ship, the previously angry atmosphere dissipating quickly. Zoro, with Flie still snugly wrapped in his arms, walked over to their favorite napping spot and plopped down.

"You okay, squirt?" Zoro asked in concern.

"Mmmhmm," Flie hummed back as a reply; she was already sleepily curling up against Zoro's side. He smiled down at her and pulled her closer, "Zoro," Flie said in a muffled voice, "Next time, I want to help you guys kick their asses..."

Zoro stared down at his now asleep daughter before chuckling and thinking, _Robin's gonna be pissed when she finds out about that..._

**There we have it! Phew! Hope everyone liked it! Again, I really want to thank all of you who reviewed and faved and followed! It is awesome! I am afraid I won't be doing a reviewers corner today because...well I am lazy! Anyway, please review with comments or suggestions! Love you all! MWAH!**


	5. Bonus Chapter

**Because you are all patient and amazing readers, I decided to do a bonus mini-chapter for you all. This doesn't necessarily tie in with the main story plot (although the plot is pretty much close to non-existent). This is basically an idea I had that I thought was cute. I hope you agree!**

**Through Flie's Eyes**

_I live on a super big ship called the Thousand Sunny. Franky says it is SUPER, but he says it in a really funny voice! Franky is a funny person. He wears girl underwear and a really ugly shirt. He is cool though because he has guns in his arms. He also builds me lots of stuff! He is the oldest person in my family._

"Hey there little sis! Whatcha doing?" Franky asked as he spied the young girl sitting at the galley table concentrating intensely on the notebook in front of her.

"Eeh! Franky! You scared me!" Flie screeched as she hastily shut the small notebook and attempted to hide it behind her back, "And, I am not doing anything, so you can just go away!"

Franky chuckled but decided to humor the little girl. He quickly grabbed three new bottles of icy cola from the fridge and left the galley.

"Phew! He didn't see it. I have to make sure it is perfect…" Flie muttered as she put the notebook back on the table and resumed writing.

_ Usopp makes stuff too! But his stuff blows up a lot. Sometimes it is supposed to. Or that's what he says, but he likes to lie a lot. Zoro says lying is bad, but Nami told me girls are allowed to do it when they want something. Usopp also has a really big nose! It is really funny! I like listening to his stories. They are always really exciting! I might write some of them down one day! I would give him credit though…of course._

"Oi, Flie! There you are!" the long-nosed sniper that Flie had just been writing about burst into the galley with a huge smile plastered across his face, "Come on out here! I just made a new invention. I am about to give a very lucky reindeer….the power of FLIGHT!" Usopp struck a pose to stress the importance of his latest creation.

Flie's eyes widened in awe, but she quickly shook her head, "I can't. Sorry Usopp. I'm busy…"

"Busy..?" Usopp quickly deflated, stunned that the young girl didn't want to see a flying reindeer.

"Mmmhmmm," Flie hummed as she looked at him expectantly.

"Fine, fine," he muttered, "I'm leaving…"

"Finally," Flie said as she picked her pencil back up, "Now where did I leave off?"

_ Nami is really super pretty! I think that is why Sanji is always so funny around her. Sometimes his nose starts bleeding. I asked Zoro why that always happens but he just told that it was because Sanji was an idiot. I don't think Sanji is an idiot. Especially not when he cooks! His food is sooo amazing! And yummy! Maybe that's why Luffy always tries to eat everyone else's. Luffy doesn't take mine though. I think it is because everyone would throw him overboard if he did. Nami also likes to look at islands and draw them. Sometimes she gives her drawings to Zoro so he won't get lost. He just throws them away. She is also really sneaky, but in a good way! She taught me how to use puppy dog eyes to get extra sweets! They don't work on her though._

"Sanji-kun—oh, hi Flie! Is Sanji-kun not in here?"

"Hey, Nami!" Flie greeted as she quickly hid her notebook under the table. Nami's keen eye caught the gesture but she decided not to mention it.

"Sanji isn't here. He and Zoro got in a fight a little while ago and then disappeared," Flie continued.

"Hmm, disappeared…interesting. Okay, well if you need anything just call, okay Flie?" Nami said as she walked back over to the door.

"Okay!" Flie called as Nami shot her another smile before exiting, leaving the fishgirl alone once again.

"Hopefully no one else walks in. I really wanna finish this before tonight," Flie murmured as she got back to work.

_When I first saw Brooke, he was kind of scary. But I really liked his afro. Anyone with an afro is cool. That's what Luffy told me. He even told me an afro helped him win a fight once. Luffy is so cool! Brooke is cool too! He can make music with anything. Sometimes, when I can't sleep, he plays me lullabies on his violin. I wish I could play violin. He tried to teach me once, but I sounded worse than a drunk Luffy singing. Or at least, that is what Usopp said. Nami hit him after that and told me I was doing fine. She can lie really well._

_ Chopper is like a bunch of people in one body. I like him when he is all small and fluffy. When he is small, he and I are the same height. I like him big too though. I can tell he is happy in his human form. I told him I liked him no matter what he looked like. He tried to call me some word that started with a B, but Robin stopped him. He was happy though, I could tell. He also helps me when I get boo boos. Zoro always kisses them and tells me to sleep it off. Chopper worries a lot more though. He gives me Band-Aids with smiley faces on them. I like those Band-Aids._

"Yohohoho! Chopper-san, I think Flie is in here!" Brooke's loud laughter and the tell-tale clopping of hooves on wood alerted Flie to the two nakama outside the door. Closing her notebook with a snap, she quickly sat on it to hide it from view. Swinging her legs back and forth, and pursing her lips in a weak whistling attempt, Flie tried to look the picture of innocence.

"Flie! What are you doing in here all by yourself?" Chopper asked in concern as he and Brooke walked inside.

"Ummm, I am…just waiting for Sanji!" Flie lied quickly, hoping the small reindeer wouldn't notice.

"Oh, okay! Speaking of which…I haven't seen him for a while…or Zoro…or Nami for that matter," Chopper said.

Brooke looked down at Chopper quizzically, then up at Flie. A thought seemed to dawn on him and with a hearty, "Yohohoho!" he steered Chopper back out of the galley.

"Let's go find our missing nakama!" Brooke declared before shutting the door, leaving Flie in peace once more.

"Thanks, Brooke," Flie murmured as she got her notebook back out.

_ Sanji is a really good cook. He has scary eye brows, but they aren't too scary anymore. He also really likes girls. He acts funny around them all the time. He acts funny around me too, but in different way. He and Zoro fight a lot. I think it is really funny, because everyone thinks they don't like each other. I know they do, though. Only people who like each other can fight like that!_

_ Luffy. Luffy likes meat. He likes his nakama. He likes sitting on Lion-chan's head and staring at the water. Nami says he is simple. I think he just likes simple things. I think he is smarter then everyone thinks. I really like Luffy. Especially his smile. He always puts me on his shoulders so I can see farther whenever we come to a new island. _

From outside the galley door a loud crash resounded followed by some incoherent yelling and a muffled cry of, "But Sanji! I'm hungry!" but Flie, absorbed in her writing, didn't notice.

_ Robin is like the mommy I never had. She is really soft. She likes to teach me and hold me in her arms. She talks to me normally and not like I am a baby. I like that. She tries to protect me a lot. I don't need protecting, but I don't complain. I think it is because she misses her mommy. I miss my mommy too. But Robin is just as good. No, she is better._

_ Zoro is my daddy. I love him with all my heart. He saved me from some big, scary boys. He is really funny. He sleeps a lot and snores in his sleep. He is really cuddly. Like a big bear. He lets me ride on his shoulders whenever we have to walk a lot. He also gets lost a lot. I try to help him, but he doesn't like to listen. Zoro is like the daddy of everyone. He takes care of Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper too. He won't admit it though. He even takes care of Nami and Robin. So does Sanji. He even watches over Franky and Brooke, even though they are older than him. I don't call Zoro daddy. I think it is weird. I like the name Zoro much better. Zoro always knows what to say when I have scary nightmares. He knows my favorite stories, food and my favorite napping spots too. _

_ I love my whole family. They are weird and crazy, but so am I. I have a mommy and a daddy and lots of brothers and a pretty sister. Sanji says Franky is more like my perverted uncle though._

"Finished!" Flie said with a smile as she closed the notebook with a satisfied sigh. She hopped down from where she had been seated and went over to pull open the heavy door. Walking outside, she passed Sanji, Usopp, Chopper and Franky who were attempting to subdue a bucking Luffy while Brooke hovered over them _Yohohoho -ing_. Nami and Robin were seated on their lawn chairs, each with a mysterious smile hovering on their faces. Zoro was stretched out on the grass, half asleep.

Nervously, Flie walked up to Zoro and slipped the notebook into his hands. With one last look at the crew, she quickly lost her nerve and ran away.

"Flie!" Sanji called after her, worry evident on his face.

"Let her go, cook-san," Robin said, "I think the best thing to do would be to read the story she worked so hard to write today."

"It better be good," Luffy mumbled, "It made lunch late!"

"Hush," Nami scolded as she walked over to sit next to Zoro on the grass.

Zoro was smiling down at the notebook proudly, for once not caring if anyone saw him.

"May I?" Robin asked him as she held out her hand.

"Huh? Oh yea, here."

Robin opened up the notebook and began reading, "I live on a super big ship called the _Thousand Sunny…_"

**AN: So...basically it was just a whole buttload of fluff! Yay for fluff! I hope you enjoyed this bonus mini chapter! A full length one will be out soon!**


	6. Important Notice

**Hello my dear readers! Firstly, let me express my expansive gratitude to all those who have reviewed, favorited and followed, and to those that have simply read! It means a lot to me! This is not a chapter update simply because I have a very important, life-changing question to ask you all! It pertains to which direction this story is heading so I suggest you read it.**

**I have three possible routes for this story to go. One of them remains fluffy and whimsical, while the other two incorporate a small pinch of serious into this otherwise fluffy story. Now, what I want you to do is read the three choices below, choose the one you like the best and either review or pm with your choice. You can also include ideas or certain corner-stones you wanted included in your choice if you wish.**

_**Are You My Daddy?**_** Remains fluffy and whimsical with little or no regard to the canon One Piece plot line.**

_**Are You My Daddy? **_**Enters the canon plot at the Saboady Archipelago and Flie is included in the fight against Kuma. When he sends them each away, she accompanies Luffy to Amazon Lily where she is then left for her own safety when Luffy heads off to Impel Down. We follow her story there as she learns the ways of the female warriors as well as follow Zoro's story which will be altered from the normal canon because of Flie**

_**Are You My Daddy?**_** Enters the canon plot at the Saboady Archipelago and Flie is included in the fight against Kuma. When he sends them each away, she accompanies Zoro and ends up staying with Mihawk, Perona and Zoro.**

**Of these three choices, the one that would be the most canon as well as a little more adventure-y/serious would be the second choice. The one that stays in tune with the story so far would be choice one and choice three is a healthy mix between the two. Choose wisely!**

**Lots of love to my AMAZING readers, UniquelyMackenzie**

**P.S.- I have had several people ask me via PM if they could do some fan art of Flie. For anyone interested I have actually done a few of my own sketches as well. All are free to do fan art and I would love to see what you have!**


	7. Chapter 7

**DON'T KILL ME! I know, I know, I know. Where the hell have I been? Ummm, shit hit the fan the past few months...so yeah. I know that is a suckass excuse, but I have gotten completely back into things. So I have several chapters lined up and will be posting regularly. Hopefully you guys don't hate me too much...**

**Instead of just flat-out telling you guys about the results of where this is heading, I am just going to let you find out in the next few chapters.**

**Also, to stem any critisicm before it starts, this is a altered (and condensed) version of the Sobaody arc, because I know that I personally don't like reading the entire arc in a fanfic after I have already watched/read it before (multiple times). **

On board the Thousand Sunny, a steady routine had developed among the Straw Hat pirates and their newest (and smallest) addition. Everyday at three o'clock sharp Flie would take a nap in the girls' room. From three to four-thirty, everyone was extra quiet-or as quiet as the Straw Hats could be. It didn't matter if marines or pirates attacked, or if they had found the fabled One Piece itself; for that hour and a half, _no one_ woke up Flie. To do so would surely mean horrible torture and possible death.

It was for this reason that nobody woke Flie up when a mermaid named Cami and her pet starfish joined the pirates aboard their ship. That was also why nobody woke Flie up even after her allotted hour and a half had passed, because it was best to leave the toddler napping when battling semi-psychotic, incredibly ugly, fish riding thugs. When Zoro finally did wake her from her almost two and a half hour long nap, Flie was extremely confused, to say the least.

"What time is it?" Flie muttered as she scrubbed at her eyes with one small hand.

"Almost six," Zoro told her as he picked up the small fish girl, "Come on, there's someone I want you to meet."

"Someone you want me to meet?" Flie said slowly, still trying to shake the cobwebs of sleep out of her mind, "Wait! What happened while I was napping?"

"Just wait," Zoro said with a small smile, "No doubt Usopp and Chopper will want to tell you all about it."

When they arrived on deck, the Sabaody Archipelago was steadily growing larger on the horizon and the rest of the crew was gathered around three figures, blocking them from Flie's view.

"Oi, Flie's awake," Zoro announced as he walked over to the group of pirates and their guests.

"Finally!" Usopp cheered, "Come over here and meet Cami, Hachi and Pappugu!"

"Who?" Flie asked dazedly as she scrambled down from Zoro's arms and scampered over to the three newcomers.

"Hello Flie!" Cami greeted the young fish girl, "It's nice to meet you!"

Flie froze; staring up in shock at the mermaid that was sitting before her, Flie's eyes drifted from her green hair, to her long muscular tail in shock. All around her, the Straw Hat pirates had quieted down, waiting for Flie's reaction.

"Hello, Flie!" another voice greeted, "I don't remember the great Roronoa Zoro having a daughter the last time I saw him." Flie shifted her stunned gaze from the mermaid to the person sitting next to her. As if in slow motion, she took in the strange spiked hair, the multiple arms and the orange skin.

Her surroundings faded away from around her as she stumbled backwards in shock. A fishman, he was a fishman. Seeing someone else, just like her, in the flesh was just too much for the small fish girl.

"Flie? Flie! Are you okay? Flie!"

Slowly, Flie looked up at the worried faces of Zoro and Robin hovering over her, then back at the mermaid and fishman. Finally, the reality of what was happening came rushing back at her full force. She jumped up, no longer in mute shock and raced over to the fishman.

A huge smile plastered across her face, she stood proudly in front of him and said, "Hi, I'm Flie! I'm a fish girl! What's your name?"

"I'm Hachi," the octopus man said with a smile as he reached out to shake Flie's proffered hand with one of his own.

"You've met Zoro before? That's so cool! Did you guys fight? I bet he kicked your butt, 'cuz he's super strong! But, you must be strong too, if you survived!" Flie stopped her ramblings and took a deep breath, looking up at Hachi with wide, awe-filled eyes.

"Looks like she's found a new idol," Nami murmured to Robin with a smile.

"I knew this would make her happy," Robin agreed with a giggle.

Upon arriving at the Sabaody Archipelago, the Straw Hat's had split into three groups: Usopp and Franky remained on the Sunny to do some repairs while Sanji stayed with them at the request of Nami to protect the treasure. Luffy, Brook, Chopper, Nami and Robin went with Cami, Pappugu and Hachi to explore the island, and to find the coating last group, Zoro and Flie, left last in search of a pub for the former.

"Zoro, we aren't gonna find one if you just keep wandering around like this! Just ask someone for directions!" Flie whined from her spot on his shoulders.

"I don't need to ask for directions!" Zoro told her, "I know exactly where I am going."

"Oh, really?" Flie asked incredulously, "And where is that, exactly?"

"That way," Zoro said vaguely, pointing somewhere in front of him.

"You don't know where you're going! I knew it!" Flie accused as she hit him on the head with her tiny fist.

"Ouch! Stop that, you don't know your own strength, squirt."

"Oops! Sorry, Zoro!" Flie said with a smile, not at all sorry.

_**BANG!**_

"What was that?" Flie yelped, her head snapping up.

"Dunno," Zoro said with a slight shrug, careful not to unseat Flie.

"Let's go see!" Flie replied, eagerly tugging on his hair to make him walk forward.

"Oi! Stop it! I'm going, I'm going!" Zoro kept walking forward, one hand grasped around Flie's ankle to keep her from falling and the other resting on his three swords, oblivious to the tension in the air and the kneeling townspeople on the sides of the road.

"Take my new wife away!" A snobby, congested voice ordered from in front of them.

Zoro kept walking, uncaring of the scene unfolding before him. Flie on the other hand stared at the Celestial Dragon in awe.

"Zoro, why's that funny guy wearing a fishbowl on his head?" Flie asked curiously, loud enough for the Celestial Dragon to hear.

Sputtering in indignation, the world noble stepped in front of Zoro, a haughty glare on his face. Sensing danger, Zoro immediately lifted Flie off of his shoulders and set her down, shooing her over to the side of the road.

"What are you doing, Zoro? What's going on?" Flie asked, now slightly worried, but Zoro didn't answer.

Instead he looked at the Celestial Dragon with a cool indifference and asked, "Do you need directions or something?"

"How dare you!" the world noble roared and in an instant he had pulled out his pistol and fired at Zoro.

Easily dodging the bullet, Zoro's hand went straight for his swords, prepared to counter-attack, when out of nowhere a girl came crashing into him from the side.

"Ooophhh!" Zoro grunted as he landed among the kneeling townspeople.

"Wh-?" he growled, struggling against her grip.

"SHHHH!" she shushed him before prostrating herself across his body and crying as if he had died, "Brother! Why did you have to go and attack a Celestial Dragon, brother? It's only natural that you've died!"

Flie watched with curiosity as the Celestial Dragon stared at Zoro's now still body before shrugging his shoulders and moving on. When he had disappeared over a hill with his entourage, the rest of the crowd rose to their feet, shooting nervous glances at Zoro and another body lying still in the road.

"What the hell was that for, woman?" Zoro yelled as he pushed the pink-haired lady off of him.

"Are you trying to get an Admiral after us?" She shouted back, glaring at Zoro.

A momentary look of confusion passed over Zoro's face before he shrugged it away and turned to the body lying prone in the road.

"C'mon Flie," he ordered as he walked over to the body and picked it up, hefting the unconscious man over his shoulder.

Flie scampered to his side, but before she followed him towards where he thought the hospital was, the young girl shot a grateful smile over her shoulder at the pink-haired woman, "Thank you!" she shouted before racing after Zoro.

"Zoro!" Flie whined, "Just ask for directions to Grove #1 already! I'm hungry, and Sanji promised to make me homemade corn dogs for lunch!"

"Fine, fine," Zoro grumbled, "Look, I'll ask these guys." Zoro meandered over to a group of seedy looking ruffians standing by the side of the road.

"Oi, do you know how to get to Grove #1 from here?" Zoro called out as he neared them.

The men turned around and eyed Zoro hungrily. After a moment of staring, one of the men nudged another and whispered something in his ear. A greedy smile spread across his face and he looked over at Zoro. Stepping forward and drawing the cutlass that hung at his side, the man said, "Of course we know where Grove #1 is, Pirate Hunter Zoro-san, but I'm afraid you won't be going there. Your $120,000,000 beli bounty is mine! And I'm sure one of the auctions houses would love to take that little girl off your hands!"

Zoro narrowed his eyes at the threat directed towards Flie. The man took a step forward, but before he could so much as swing his sword, Zoro looked straight into his eyes with a glare that promised pain and death to anyone who threatened his daughter. The ruffian dropped his sword in terror and stumbled backwards.

"Grove #1, did you say? I know where that is, let's see...let's see...if you just head this way you should end up there no problem!"

"Thank you!" Flie said with a happy grin as she and Zoro walked in the direction they had pointed.

Sometime later, Zoro was walking along, Flie on his shoulders complaining again about how he was going in the wrong direction when a strange whirring filled the air.

"Zoro! Flie! No time to talk, GET ON!" Luffy yelled from atop the flying fish as they whizzed past.

"Huh? What?" Zoro shouted as he turned to face his captain. A rubber arm stretched back towards them and wrapped around the pair several times. "No! Not again!" With a snap, Luffy pulled the two pirates towards the flying fish where they landed with a loud thump.

Flie groaned and rubbed her head, while Zoro laid there stunned before muttering, "One day Luffy, I really am gonna cut you in half..."

"Sorry, Zoro!"

Zoro sat up and situated himself more comfortably on the airborne fish and pulled Flie into his lap.

"Look! Up ahead," the Rosy Life rider said from the front of the fish. In front of them, a large moss covered building with the words Human Shop' on it could be seen in a clearing on the waterbank.

"Good! Just fly straight into it!" Luffy ordered as he smushed his straw hat securely down onto his head.

Zoro wrapped his arms tightly around Flie to protect her and braced himself for impact. The flying fish went shooting through the closed front doors and crashed into the first few rows of seating inside. Dazed from the bad landing, Zoro carefully pushed Flie off of him before sitting up with a groan and rubbing his head.

"One of these days, Luffy...one of these days..." he muttered, but Luffy didn't hear. He was too busy looking around frantically, searching for something.

"Zoro, where are we? I thought we were heading back to the ship." Flie said confusedly as she walked over to the swordsman.

"Camie got kidnapped and she is about to be sold to a Celestial Dragon unless we do something," Nami informed them both from where she was standing staring at the front stage with a look of shock and horror.

"What?" Flie screeched. She looked towards the front as well and saw the mermaid floating in the round tank, banging on it and silently screaming. "Wait, what do you mean by sold?" Flie inquired, confused. "You can't sell living beings, that's not right. They aren't really gonna sell her are they?" She looked up at the others with wide eyes.

Nami didn't answer, she couldn't. Sanji looked down at the floor, shadows hiding his face. Flie sniffled, tears threatening to pour down her cheeks. "N-no! You can't sell people! That's-that's not right! Is this what they did to my daddy?" Unable to contain them anymore, her tears flowed forth as she leapt into Zoro's arms with a wail.

A gunshot rang out in the Human Shop, immediately silencing all the nervous chattering and shouts. Flie lifted her tear-streaked face from Zoro's shoulder and watched in horror as Hachi fell to the ground, blood staining his chest.

"HACHI!" several voices yelled, Flie's the loudest. She struggled in Zoro's arms, trying to jump down and run towards the fishman.

"No, Flie! Leave it to Luffy!" Zoro said, clutching the little girl closer to his chest. Slightly subdued, she stopped struggling and watched as Luffy crouched down next to Hachi. The Celestial Dragon that had shot Hachi was hopping from one foot to another singing happily to himself about his 'good fortune'.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Flie shouted and leapt from Zoro's relaxed grip around her waist. "You can't just shoot innocent people! Hachi isn't your property!" She shouted as she ran towards the noble.

"How dare you! You annoy me too!" he yelled in a stuffy voice, turning around to face her, he aimed the gun at her. Before he could pull the trigger, Zoro had leapt protectively in front of Flie with a warning growl, but Luffy had recaptured the Celestial Dragon's attention by punching him clear across the room.

For several minutes after that, the room degenerated into chaos as those who had previously been there to 'shop' fled the scene before the same fate could befall them. Another world noble had procured a pistol and was furiously shooting at Luffy to no avail. The other Straw Hats were happily fighting, glad to be able to contribute to freeing Cami.

"You can't catch me! You can't catch me! Na, na, na!" Flie chanted happily as she ran around the room taunting the armored soldiers.

"Bring 'em over here, Flie!" Zoro yelled from the middle of the room. Glad to obey, Flie turned around and jumped up to punch one in the face before running off towards Zoro with five of the knights in tow.

Zoro made short work of them before turning worriedly to Flie and asking, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Zoro!" she whined before scampering away to taunt more of the soldiers.

"We need to get the collar off of Cami!" Luffy yelled from in front of the stage where he had just incapacitated several soldiers.

"Franky!" Sanji ordered, "Go find the keys!"

"Got it!" Franky replied before turning to fight his way towards the stage. Before he could get very far, the last Celestial Dragon suddenly appeared onstage with a pistol and a ladder. Everyone froze. She climbed onto the ladder and aimed the pistol at Cami's head.

They all wanted to do something, but none were close enough to stop her. Flie started running towards the trapped mermaid anyway, unwilling to let her new friend be killed. Until suddenly, the noble fainted dead away, falling down the ladder to the ground unconscious. They all stared in stunned silence as the other soldiers fainted away around them, and the backdrop of the stage was torn away. A giant and an old man walk forward through the gaping hole torn in the wall.

The old man stared around at the scene in front of him for several moments, quietly sizing up what had transpired, before letting his gaze land on Luffy. "I have been waiting to meet you, Monkey D. Luffy," he announced with a twinkle in his eye before turning to look at Cami.

"Franky," Sanji ordered again, "Keys, now!"

"Right, I'm on it!"

The old man let out a slight chuckle on stage before walking over to the sliced tank. "Let's get this off, shall we? Don't be afraid."  
"Waitt, old man! Franky is coming with the keys."  
"Please wait! That collar is a bomb!"  
"Oh no! It's ticking! Where is Franky with the keys?"

In a split second, they all knew it was too late, and unable to watch, Flie hid her face behind Zoro. The explosion shook the building and the cry of "CAMI!" from Pappagu was heart wrenching. It cut off abruptly though when the smoke cleared, revealing a safely freed Cami, a smiling old man, and a slightly miffed Franky.

"I got these for nothing!" he muttered with a put out sigh.

"We need to get out of here," Chopper said worriedly, ignoring Franky's annoyance. "Hachi needs better medical attention than what I can give him now.

"Marines have surrounded us by now," a fiery red-haired pirate said from where he and his crew were standing by the door, "I saw what I came to see, Straw Hat, I suppose I can take care of them on my way out."

Another pirate wearing a fuzzy, spotted hat, stood up from where he had been lounging in the seats, not prepared to be shown up by Kidd, "I can take care of them myself, Eustass-ya," the pirate said in a smooth voice.

Luffy grinned and began to run towards the door as well. "I'll clear the way for you guys," he yelled over his shoulder towards the other Straw Hats, "Get Hachi and Cami and meet me outside!"

He ran out after the other two Supernova captains, arguing about who would take down the marines.

Flie ran up to Hachi and kneeled beside him. "Hachi! You're okay, right? You're gonna be okay, right?"

Hachi smiled weakly and softly said, "Of course I am."

"Don't worry, Flie," Chopper said comfortingly, "I'll fix him up as soon as we get back to Shakky's."

Flie smiled, reassured by the two. She then ran over to Cami who was being lifted onto Rayleigh's back.

"You're okay, too, right, Cami? They didn't hurt you did they?"

"I'm perfectly fine, now! They didn't hurt me, don't worry Flie!" Cami replied happily.

Now completely sure that everyone was safe, Flie scampered over to Robin.

"Robin? Why were they trying to sell Cami?" Flie asked seriously.

All activity around them stopped. The Straw Hats froze; even the other two pirates crews cringed at the innocent question. Explaining the government's corruption and shortcomings as well as humanities' lack of compassion to a five year old was not something any of them wanted to do, least of all Robin. Nevertheless, she knelt down to Flie's height and said, "Flie, there are things that happen in this world, that no matter how hard we try, we can't explain. If I could tell you why humans did such terrible things, I would. I can't though, all I can do is tell you that I, and everyone else on this crew, will do all we can to protect you from it."

A serious look settled on Flie's face as she stood still for a moment, contemplating what Robin had told her. Seeming to come to a decision in her head, Flie shrugged her shoulders and smiled up at the rest of the crew.

"I won't let mean people do bad stuff to you guys. Okay?" she said seriously.

"Okay, Flie," Robin replied with a smile.

In a fit of very un-Zoro-like emotion, Zoro scooped up the small girl from behind and gave her a tight hug. She giggled and twisted around in his embrace to return the hug. When he put her back down, all the other Straw Hats, as well as the other two pirates crew gave him knowing looks and Nami's shark-like smile was unbearable. He attempted to hide his embarrassed blush with a demonic glare-that only succeeded in scaring Usopp, Chopper and Brooke-but before anyone could tease him about the show of fatherly love, his swords began to rattle around in their sheaths.

"Oi, what the-?" He grunted, grabbing onto them before they could fly away.

"C'mon," Nami ordered, turning back to the door, "We need to get out of here!"

"Right!" Everyone chorused back, turning to run towards the door.

They ran out onto the steps to find the three captains standing in front of a swarm of marines.

"Look! On that hill!" Usopp exclaimed, pointing towards three figures wildly waving their hands on a far hill.

"It's Duval," Sanji said, slightly shocked, "I didn't expect him to stay around, but since he's here...Everyone! Head towards the Flying Fish riders!"

The three pirate crews split up, the Straw Hats storming over to the hill. Flie was safely seated on Zoro's shoulders as they ran, and when he jumped aboard one of the flying fish, he sat her down safely in front of him. Twisting around, she watched as the pirate captain with the funny spotted hat freed the large slave that had been waiting obediently outside the Human Shop. _That was nice of him_, she thought to herself, _maybe not _everyone_ is super mean_.

Facing forward again, she pulled Zoro's arms more securely around her as the flying fish rose higher in the sky. When they finally arrived back at Shakky's, Chopper and Rayleigh brought Hachi inside to be treated. The rest of the Straw Hats convened around the bar to discuss what to do next.

"No doubt they'll be sending an Admiral now," Nami groaned, letting her head fall down onto the table in dismay.

"I won't let any Admiral touch you, Nami-san!" Sanji declared, getting down on one knee in front of her stool, "No Admiral is as strong as our love for each other!"

Nami didn't deign to answer Sanji's declaration of love.

"If you lie low for about three days, I can get your coating done and have you guys on your way to Fishman Island," Rayleigh informed them from where he was sitting besides Hachi's bed.

"Three days?" Franky asked, skeptically.

"Don't you worry," Hachi wheezed, "Ray-san is the best coater I know! You can trust him."

"Ahh! Hachi! Don't talk, you are severely injured!" Chopper scolded, hovering anxiously around his patient, checking his bandages and fluids.

"I'm fine Chopper-san, thanks to you," Hachi consoled him gently with a grin.

"Three days? I suppose I could do some shopping. Stock up on food for the trip," Sanji mused, already mentally compiling a list of foods he would need.

"I wouldn't mind exploring a little more, either," Robin said, "If you would like Nami, you can come with me."  
"I suppose it's better than moping around here, worrying about an Admiral," Nami acquiesced, "You, though-" she said, pointing an accusatory finger at Zoro, "Aren't allowed to leave! Stay here and rest. The last thing we need is you getting lost with Flie."

Zoro would have complained, but one look at the several fully stocked liquor shelves and Zoro was content to remain in the bar. Flie didn't care one way or the other, as long as she was with Zoro. As the others got up to leave, all of them going in pairs (just in case), Zoro grabbed a bottle of strong looking rum and plopped down at the bar to drink his way through it.

Chopper continued fussing over Hachi while Brooke calmly sipped tea next to the fishman's bed. Rayleigh had left along with the other Straw Hats, presumably to start coating the Sunny. Flie looked around the mostly empty bar, pondering what to do to wile away the time. Zoro had just finished his first bottle of rum and was reaching out to grab another bottle when she got an idea.

"Zoro?" She asked in an innocent voice, widening her eyes to look pleadingly up at the unsuspecting swordsman, "You promised me you would buy me my own cool sword, just like yours!"

He looked into her eyes, unable to escape her pleading gaze and gave a resigned sigh. _She really had spent far too much time with Nami_, he thought. With another sigh, he pushed back from the bar and stood up. Grabbing his half empty bottle of rum, he took one of Flie's hand in his other and prepared to leave.

"But Zoro," Chopper said quickly, "Nami told you to stay put."

"I'm don't have to listen to what that witch said," Zoro replied huffily. "C'mon Flie. I'll find a place in town."

With a self-satisfied smile, Flie skipped along beside Zoro, out the door and on the opposite path towards town.


End file.
